![]() Unfortunately, many Muslim-majority countries have failed to follow the Prophet's example. ighteousness has been explained and distinguished from misguidance." "O my Lord," he said, expressing his remorse, "I have not intended to compel her, as I know that there must be no compulsion in religion. He became anxious that she might have perceived his invitation as compulsion. In one recorded example, an elderly Christian woman came to see the caliph Umar and then refused his invitation to embrace Islam. Evidence from Islamic history suggests that this view was held not only by Prophet Muhammad but also by his political successors. When people were unreceptive to the message of Islam, the Qur'an explicitly reminded him that he was never to resort to coercion: "Your task is only to exhort you cannot compel them " (88:21). The capstone of the qur'anic case for religious liberty is the fact that not even the Prophet Muhammad could impose or force people to profess Islam. Therefore, forced conversions are simply unacceptable, and anyone who would use force rather than persuasion to promote religion must ignore the view of the person central to the Qur'an. Belief is an individual choice ― or, rather, it is a choice involving the individual and God. Resoundingly, the Qur'an declares that "there shall be no coercion in matters of faith" (2:256). And also: "Whoever chooses to follow the right path follows it but for his own good and whoever goes astray goes but astray to his own hurt" (17:15). "The truth from your Sustainer: Let, then, him who wills, believe in it, and let him who wills, reject it," it says (18:29). Further, it holds that God gave humankind the intellect and ability to discern between right and wrong (17:15 6:104). The Qur'an emphasises that human beings have inherent worth and dignity. God created humans "in the best of moulds" (95:4) and in doing so honoured humanity and conferred on it special favours (17:70). The Qur'an's anthropology ― which is shared by Christianity and Judaism ― views every human being as a creation of God, blessed with intellect and free will. The bedrock of the Islamic case for religious liberty is the Qur'an's vision of the human person. ![]() Both are remarkably supportive of the idea of individual and personal religious freedom. Such problematic texts are outweighed by the bulk of the texts and instruction provided by the two most important authorities in Islam, the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad's actual practice. The Prophet reportedly sometimes demands the death penalty for apostasy, the most obvious example of this being the hadith, "Whoever changes his religion, kill him" (Bukhari, Sahih, 9, 84, hadith 57). One example is a qur'anic verse (9:29) that deals with the question of the jizyah, a tax on non-Muslims:įight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. If Muslims are to embrace modernity, including life in a pluralistic, democratic society, without abandoning their faith, they must take up the argument for religious liberty that is embedded in their history and that stands at the centre of their most sacred texts.Īlthough the broad thrust of the Qur'an and hadith supports religious liberty, many parts of these texts can be, and traditionally have been, interpreted as denying it. The words of the Qur'an and hadith contain rich resources for supporting the democratic order. ![]()
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